The Department of Commerce Blog Entries for Category: Three-trackhttp://www.commerce.gov/blog/category/1200
The U.S. Department of Commerce has a broad mandate to advance economic growth and jobs and opportunities for the American people. It has cross cutting responsibilities in the areas of trade, technology, entrepreneurship, economic development, environmental stewardship and statistical research and analysis.
The products and services the department provides touch the lives of Americans and American companies in many ways, including weather forecasts, the decennial census, and patent and trademark protection for inventors and businesses. The development of commerce to provide new opportunities was the central goal at the department's beginning in 1903 and it remains a primary obligation today.enUSPTO to Issue Proposal for Accelerated Patent Examination as part of Three-Track Programhttp://www.commerce.gov/blog/2011/02/03/uspto-issue-proposal-accelerated-patent-examination-part-three-track-program
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<a href="http://www.commerce.gov/sites/default/files/images/2011/february/three-track-pto-261x174.jpg" rel="lightbox[field_photo][File photo: Kappos and panel announcing Threee-Track (Jly, 2010)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.commerce.gov/sites/default/files/images/2011/february/three-track-pto-261x174.jpg&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; id=&quot;lightbox2-download-link-text&quot;&gt;Download Original&lt;/a&gt;]" class="imagefield imagefield-lightbox2 imagefield-lightbox2-custom_crop_350x230 imagefield-field_photo imagecache imagecache-field_photo imagecache-custom_crop_350x230 imagecache-field_photo-custom_crop_350x230"><img src="http://www.commerce.gov/sites/default/files/imagecache/custom_crop_350x230/images/2011/february/three-track-pto-261x174.jpg" alt="File photo: Kappos and panel announcing Threee-Track (Jly, 2010)" title="File photo: Kappos and panel announcing Threee-Track (Jly, 2010)" width="350" height="234" /></a> </div>
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<p>Today, Commerce's United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced new details on its <a href="http://www.uspto.gov/news/pr/2010/10_24.jsp" target="_blank">
“Three-Track” program</a>
designed to enable applicants to choose the speed with which their
patent application is processed.&nbsp; A notice to be posted in the Federal
Register on Friday lays out plans for implementation of “Track One,”
which will give applicants the opportunity for prioritized examination
of a patent within 12 months of its filing date for a proposed fee of
$4,000. Public comments
on a number of
different proposed requirements for participation in Track One will be
accepted for 30 days after the notice is published.
</p>
<p>U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke highlighted the “Three-Track” patent examination program, first published for
public comment in June 2010, at the White House’s launch of the <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/startup-america-fact-sheet" target="_blank">
“Startup America” initiative</a> earlier this week. </p>
<blockquote><p>“The
Patent and Trademark Office plays a key role in promoting innovation
and entrepreneurship,” Locke said. “This new system will bring the most
valuable patents, as determined by inventors, to market faster and will
help shrink the backlog by catering to the business needs of America’s
innovators.”
</p></blockquote>
<p>For
smaller entities, the USPTO is working to offer a 50 percent discount
on any filing fee associated with Track One, as it does with many other
standard processing fees. The patent reform legislation recently
introduced in the U.S. Senate would enable the USPTO to set its own
fees and thereby extend this discount to small entity applicants.
</p>
<p>The USPTO also announced today a new effort
to
eliminate the “tail” of backlog applications that were more than 16
months old at the beginning of the fiscal year and had not yet received
a first office action, known as “Clearing the Oldest Patent
Applications” (or COPA).&nbsp; This initiative is a critical first step in
reaching the agency’s strategic goal of providing first office actions
on all new applications in an average of 10 months from their date of
filing by 2014.</p>
<p>Over time, COPA and the Three-Track program will help to lower overall patent pendency and speed up the time it takes for
applicants to get a decision on their patent applications. <a href="http://www.uspto.gov/news/pr/2011/11_08.jsp">Complete Press Release</a>:&nbsp; </p>http://www.commerce.gov/blog/2011/02/03/uspto-issue-proposal-accelerated-patent-examination-part-three-track-program#commentsCOPAPatent applicationsThree-trackTrack OnePatent and Trademark OfficeSecretary of Commerce Gary LockeThu, 03 Feb 2011 22:15:00 +0000ksullivan@doc.gov12605 at http://www.commerce.gov